Longmeadow Animal Hospital

Reviews 4

MA

Marc Dee

Boarded my cat on Thursday, got her back on Monday - BLIND! I paid to have my cat boarded because she was receiving 2 meds, 1 oral and 1 for her eyes. Normally I would just keep her at home. I chose to board her with the Longmeadow because I thought it important that someone observe her during the administration of the meds. This obviously did not occur. Note that I have been taking my cat there over 10 years and she just had a visit the week before in which they prescribed these meds but said she was in great health for her age. Dr. Barlup claimed the blindness was coincidental, and that her staff is not sufficiently trained to notice those things. While I could believe that staff may miss a blindness event for an animal under routine care, I contend that an animal that was getting their eyes treated 4 times per day for 5 days and no one notices a change in their eyes is a failure to perform. The medication instructions state to cease treatment and contact a vet if there are changes to their eyes. The doctor had no problem instructing me as to what should be done. Apparently I am qualified to treat the animal, but their staff are not? If an animal is under medication, are the staff not instructed to observe the animal? Are they briefed on what they are doing and what to do if an animal changes in some way? If not this is a serious failure in their practice. It seems to me it should be standard practice for staff medicating an animal to fully understand what they are expected to do and be informed that ANY UNCERTAINTY should be immediately reported. To me, the vet should be certain the staff know the specifics for animals being medicated and/or be instructed to ask the vet if they have not received instructions. The blindness condition is not the issue, the issue is that your practices have flaws and should be revised to pay special attention to animals that are receiving medication. What if the next animal experiences a life threatening condition because of the indifference of their staff? I hope that this incident causes them to reflect on their practices, training and protocols for animal care. My cat is blind for life, her pretty blue eyes are now black, I hope this review saves another animal.

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Shaneeka Owens

I went to this vet last month instead of my normal vet which is 40 minutes away because it is literally right up the street from my home and my dog was very ill. I knew going in that it was a very good possibility that I would be putting my old guy down. This was my first ever visit to their office which was clearly evident to all of the staff. I am very big on customer service and I have to say this was one if not the most unwelcoming and unfriendly experience I have ever had at such a small (non-big box) establishment I believe I have ever had. From the time I walked in the door carrying my dog, there was never a welcome to Longmeadow, not a single person introduced themselves; not the office staff, the vet tech, NOT EVEN THE Dr. HERSELF (I found myself unsuccessfully trying to read the tag on her coat) which I found to be very dissappointing for a small town, referral based, customer service business. Obviously I was more concerned about my dog than myself, but no one ever asked his name or age either (they just knew he was old by his grey). The front desk tried to get me to pay for the euthanization upfront which of course I refused saying I wanted the Dr. to actually examine him first to be sure that it is necessary. Long story short I did end up having to euthanize my buddy that day and what is already an emotionally stressful and trying time, was not made any better by the very impersonal experience at Longmeadow. I know with the love and care that my normal vet and her staff have for animals and their owners, I would have definitely received a better experience and a condolences card from them as they have done for other people but from Longmeadow I am not surprised that I have received nothing of the sorts. I have 2 other dogs which needless to say will not be patients of this establishment which is unfortunate because it would be nice to have a vet as conveniently located to me as this one. However, I now even more so appreciate the care and support I receive from my normal vet, making the 40 minute drive a little less painful.

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Heather Holman

Unnecessary treatments which could have killed my dogs and even lied about doing some tests! My dogs got in to a pound of raisins which resulted in a trip to the 24 hour emergency vet, they had to have IV fluids for raisin toxicity and in the morning recommended to be moved to my regular vet for 24 hour observation. Long Meadow was my normal vet (not anymore) and my husband dropped them off for observation. They told him they wouldnt take the dogs unless they updated their shots to "protect" our dogs and the dogs in their kennel. My husband was late for work so just agreed. While they held them in the 24 hours, they gave them 5 shots each and said they tested their stool. Firstly they already had their rabies shots we got at a humane society event and were wearing their tags, secondly their livers were already damaged from the raisins and they werent medically stable for vaccinations, and lastly vaccinations take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month for them to be effective so they werent being protected from dogs in their kennel, and if mine had anything (which they didnt) it wouldnt protect the dogs in their kennel, its just a money making scam. When I picked them up I had another $1,000 vet bill for totally unnecessary treatments. Also they charged me for two stool tests for worms but checked that one of the dogs didnt poop at all, but still charged me for the tests which we didnt agree to. I paid the bills and never returned, beware of this vet, they scam you to make money!

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MI

Michael Portz

PLEASE READ!!! THIS HORRIBLE PRACTICE KILLED MY DOG! I wouldnt even give this practice one star, but had to in order to leave this review. I brought my healthy 3 year old Staffordshire (pit bull) Terrier here to have a routine dental procedure done, and two hours after I dropped him off, we received a phone call to inform us that he was dead. He had done well through the entire procedure but that his heart had stopped. They tried to revive him but failed to save his life. We suspect that he died because he was left unmonitored, or inexperience, or maybe both. With the exception of one new vet, the staff was cold and mostly unresponsive to us when we went in to say goodbye to him. And one of the staff members was outright rude to us. They still made us pay for the entire procedure, but offered a free cremation. However they called back the following day to make us pay for his cremation. We then wrote two letters to the owner of this practice to which she never responded. We move around a lot and have been to many veterinary practices in various states, but this is by far the WORST vet weve ever been to. DO NOT GO TO THIS VET or give them your business in any way. There are several other veterinarians in Hagerstown that are far better. Please take my advice if you care for your family members. We will never get our dog back, but if we can prevent other animals from dying under the care of Longmeadow, then some good can come from all of this.

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